Photo: Sleeper141 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0West Bergholt records shoplifting at 3.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence fell 14% in a year. On top of that, among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it records less crime per resident than 79%. West Bergholt’s police logs show 18.6 violent and sexual offences and 5.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in West Bergholt
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 14% less violent crime per resident in West Bergholt than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, West Bergholt has the 276th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Aspley Guise, Coleford and Holton le Clay, higher than Bicknacre, Wickham Market and Great Eccleston. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 48% of West Bergholt’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind West Bergholt’s B+
A fairly firm grade. Built on 230 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks West Bergholt against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Most West Bergholt residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
48% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
West Bergholt’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, West Bergholt runs highest on shoplifting (6.3 per 1,000 against 1.8). Anti-social behaviour and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 65 | 20.5 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 23 | 7.2 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 20 | 6.3 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 11 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 11 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 10 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 3 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
How crime in West Bergholt has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -14% (towns its size +1%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size +2%).
Of 856 towns its size, West Bergholt is 276th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Great Totham Essex | 2,773 | 8.9 | 2.6 | 2.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 134 | Tollesbury Essex | 2,811 | 14 | 4.7 | 2.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 218 | Rowhedge Essex | 2,492 | 16.3 | 5.9 | 3.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 273 | Bicknacre Essex | 2,277 | 18.2 | 5.9 | 2.1 | B+ |
| 274 | Wickham Market Suffolk | 2,231 | 16.1 | 7.9 | 2.2 | B+ |
| 275 | Great Eccleston Lancashire | 2,073 | 20.1 | 4 | 2.1 | B+ |
| 276 | West Bergholt Essex | 3,175 | 18.6 | 5.6 | 10.3 | B+ |
| 277 | Burnopfield County Durham | 2,998 | 15.8 | 8.5 | 10.5 | B+ |
| 278 | Cuckfield West Sussex | 3,767 | 15.9 | 8.3 | 4.2 | B+ |
| 279 | Haddenham Cambridgeshire | 3,050 | 16.2 | 8.1 | 3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 326 | Great Leighs Essex | 2,968 | 19.5 | 6.2 | 2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near West Bergholt, and others in Essex.
Crime in West Bergholt per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 10 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on West Bergholt’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 9 collisions with injuries inside West Bergholt in five years. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and West Bergholt is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of West Bergholt’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; West Bergholt had 4.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside West Bergholt’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around West Bergholt
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Bergholt | 3,175 | 18.6 | 5.6 | B+ |
| Great Horkesley | 2,232 | 22 | 4.3 | B+ |
| Eight Ash Green | 1,769 | 28.7 | 10.7 | C+ |
| Colchester | 130,259 | 51.1 | 17.1 | D |
| Copford | 1,794 | 15.8 | 13.4 | B |
| Berechurch | 7,702 | 46.3 | 13.3 | D |
| Marks Tey | 1,817 | 18 | 7.7 | B+ |
| Layer-de-la-Haye | 1,338 | 16.7 | 4.2 | A− |
West Bergholt records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Layer-de-la-Haye, 4.6 miles away, records 16.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against West Bergholt’s 18.6.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where West Bergholt sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in West Bergholt
Is West Bergholt safe?
Police recorded 18.6 violent and sexual offences and 5.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside West Bergholt’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 72% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, West Bergholt is 276th from the least crime. 48% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in West Bergholt?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 14%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 24%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 188%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in West Bergholt?
Violence & sexual offences: 65 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (20) and criminal damage & arson (11), with 23 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does West Bergholt compare with Colchester?
Colchester records 51.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against West Bergholt’s 18.6 and 5.6, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.